Week 11: My Leisurely Week in Paris

Following my 10 week internship, I had one week

left in Paris to do and explore as I pleased before returning

back to the United States. As you can imagine, I came up with a list

of places that I wanted to visit, but alas, I only crossed off

half of them. Reason being? I lingered longer in museums, 

made my way down a narrow street that looked inviting, and stopped into

a boutique or boulangerie just to admire its contents. 

In other words, I allowed myself to dawdle and take in Paris

at a leisurely place. Paris has much more to offer than

just its major sites, and one often misses the true Paris if one is

zigzagging to and from these sites by metro or taxi. 

Plus, it is Paris' quainter streets, small parks and boutiques,

and quieter neighborhoods that make Paris as charming as it is,

which one can experience best by foot or bike. 

In all, Paris has an infinite amount of

places that I have yet to explore (or have heard of), and I know that I

would love nothing more than to spend large amounts of time here 

throughout my life and continue to explore.

 Thus, below are photos taken during this week's excursions,

and I hope many of this caliber follow in the years to come.  

Tuesday

For lunch, I decided to grab some North
African food at the Marché des Enfants Rouge in the
3e arrondissement. This open-air market has a lot of stalls
offering food from around the world, but this stall was particularly
popular. North African culture is quite present in France
(10% of all French citizens speak Arabic),
and its food is quite delicious!

My lunch: mint tea with couscous, stuffed eggplant, and grilled vegetables.
Delicieux! 

Right outside of the Marché des Enfants Rouge is
one of Paris' best and secret book stores. I spent about 30 minutes in this
bookstore admiring the polaroids pictured above and flipping
through many of its books. 

On the cover of the bookstore's newest books, the staff
write reviews of the books, and one of them inspired me so
that I decided to buy the book!
(The bookstore also offers books in English and a great
selection of Paris guides)

Rue de Poitou, 3e

The typical Parisian afternoon:
enjoying a coffee at a café while working
or riding a Velib (the French public biking system)

A café in the Marais, 4e

Afternoon snack:
a vanilla cream and candied pecan eclair
from Eclair de Génie, 4e 

The gardens of Musée Carnavalet,
the History of Paris museum, in the 4e.
(Unfortunately, I do not recommend this museum
as I found the layout to be confusing and the descriptions
of the exhibits to be dull and un-informative)

Place des Abbesses, 18e

Place du Tertre, 18e: a square adjacent to Sacré Coeur
at which Parisians artists sell their art; it was here that I bought a
oil painting for Elizabeth of the Eiffel Tower for her dorm room!

Rue André Antoine, 18e

A boulangerie along Rue Henry Monnier, 9e

Place Gustave Toudouze, 9e 

A shop along Rue des Martyrs, 9e

Rue des Petits Carreaux, 2e

Happy hour on a wonderfully, sunny Tuesday evening, 2e

The Louvre at night, 1e

 Wednesday

Beginning the day with some lunch at the Petit Palais

I believe that the Petit Palais has one of the best, small
parks in Paris. While its café was average, its view is incredible.
Plus, since the entrance is free and there are benches
that border the park, you can bring your own lunch
and enjoy the view as well!

Inside the Petit Palais

The Petit Palais (or Small Palace) is the
Paris' Fine Arts Museums and one of my
favorite museums to visit 

Following my hour at the Petit Palais, I sat with some, fellow interns during their lunch hour and then headed off to a 4-hour, electric bike tour of Paris. My family had done this same bike tour a year ago and raved about it, so I decided to do it myself! (The company is called: "Paris' Charms and Secrets, is offered in French, English, Japanese, and Spanish, and costs a total of 49 euros).

Below are photos taken from that tour, but they do not justice to how wonderful it is to ride an electric bike through the streets of Paris!

Place Vendome, 1e:
The meeting point of the tour
(Napoleon is the figure on top of the monument, and the cannons that were
used during his victory during the Battle of Austerlitz were burned and
melded to form the monument)

The Petit Palais, 1e:
Our guide stopped us here and explained to us its
creation and history during the 17th century
using amusing anecdotes 

Riding through the Louvre on our bikes was one of
my favorite moments during the tour

Cours du Commerce Saint-André, 6e

Le Procope is located on this street: First opened in 1686,
Le Procope has been the hub for major politicians,
philosophers, and artists over the course of French history, particularly
during the French Revolution. The restaurant has a blood stained note written
by Robespierre before he was killed, another note by Marie Antoinette before she
was guillotined, letters by Voltaire, Rousseau's desk, among many other examples.
A tourist hub for sure, but nonetheless interesting!

The hidden chapel of Saint Esprit, 5e,
The only chapel in Paris that wasn't
looted nor destroyed during the French Revolution

Riding along the Tuileries

From there, I met up with some friends from the embassy for a boat tour of Paris!

From there, we decided to walk from
Pont d'Alma to La Motte Piquet Grenelle for dinner so that we could
further enjoy the Seine and the Eiffel Tower.

Thursday

Muriel recommended that I spend some time along Rue de Passy, which is one of her favorite streets in Paris. Located in the 16e arrondissement, Rue de Passy is bordered with some of Paris' chicest clothing brands in addition to luxe boulangeries and cafés.

Paris' public water fountains

A side-street off of Rue de Passy

Place de la Concorde
Since the U.S. Embassy borders this square, I
stopped by to say goodbye to some friends.

Walking along the Tuileries 

Even in mid-August, it still rains in Paris

Stopped at Sennelier to buy some
pastels from my Aunt Dianne!

(During the afternoon, I spent time walking up and down 

Rue des Martyrs with Muriel; see next post)

Walking along Pont de Bir-Hakim

Recognize this photo?
This bridge is often used as backdrops for major
fashion magazine spreads and advertisements 

Friday

On Friday, Muriel and I attended Daisy's farewell party at her office with her co-workers, and then, we all went out to lunch together. Following that event, I met up with my friend, Ally, for a wonderful glass of tea at Maison Frère in the Marais. Muriel then later met up with me to walk around the Marais before we headed back the appartment for some dinner.

Daisy and Nicolas' office

Maison Frères Teashop